Pinching grippers for the secure handling of fabric panels

Abstract

Describes one of the most frequently occurring processes in automated garment manufacture – the picking and placing of fabric panels. This can be carried out using pinch grippers which comprise two pegs that are pushed down on to the top of the fabric. The pegs are then brought together so that the fabric buckles up and is secured between them. It is essential that this operation has very high reliability and repeatability as an error can result in distorted, badly placed or misaligned fabric panels, which would then lead to the production of a faulty garment. The important parameters are the frictional characteristics of the peg surface/supporting surfaces combined with the weight and bending stiffness of the fabric, the opening distance of the pegs and the downward pressure applied to them. Describes a model for these relationships and uses experimental data on frictional and bending properties to predict the gripping behaviour for a given gripper design and gripping strategy. The predictions are compared with experimental results.

Citation

Taylor, P.M., Pollett, D.M. and Grieβer, M.T. (1996), "Pinching grippers for the secure handling of fabric panels", Assembly Automation, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 16-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/01445159610126357